This is Eric Krempa logging in to M. Tozz's blog, we're going to be blogging together over the next few months so i figured I'd start it off with a homerun, hitting 2 pretty hot topics right now.
First and foremost we all know the past 10 years (roughly) have been dubbed the "Steroid Era" in Major League Baseball, and i believe over the last few years the numbers in baseball have came back to reality for the most part from the years where hitting 50+ homeruns was barely acknowledge as an achievement. We saw guys like Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Lee, David Ortiz, etc. put 50+ over the fence; but these guys are by no means small. This year, Jose Bautista, representing the shockingly improved 2010 Toronto Blue Jays, has hit 52 big flies with still 5 games left to play. Now i try not to be a hater but this has to raise some serious questions throughout the league. In 2006, this guy hit 16 dingers, followed by 15 in 2007, 15 in 2008, and a weak 13 last year in 2009. Suddenly, in 2010 he comes out and leads the league with 52 homers setting an MLB record of the largest increase in homeruns from one year to the next; +39 and counting.
When i discuss this topic with people they say things like, "well, athletes are becoming much stronger with more intense workout ethics" and "he may have straightened out his mechanics and found his swing." I don't care who you are, no workout that you may do in the off-season and no adjustments/improvements you may make to your swing can give you a +39 and counting homerun improvement.
The question arises - what is the answer to this monster slug fest going on in Toronto for #19? Obviously, i do not have the answer nor does anyone else - all we have is speculation. I am not accusing Jose Bautista of being a juicer, i am simply suggesting that we should not rule out the possibility that Bautista is using HGH or some other form of PEDs. So considering the other side of the argument - well what if Bautista is actually doing this naturally? If he is, then what he's doing is incredible, he has set an MLB record, and he deserves a huge contract and Toronto has finally found the star they've been looking for......but he's 6'0 190 lbs. has hit for average his whole career with below average homeruns - i just don't believe it.
Moving on to the next hot topic i want to acknowledge the performance of the former #7 of the Atlanta Falcons and the new #7 for the Philadelphia Eagles, Mike Vick. It's hard to believe that this time last year Mike Vick was failing as a back up for the Eagles and even more unbelievable, this time two years ago he was in prison. This guy has literally become a stud in the NFL by playing only 8 quarters of football. I know many people are skeptic about whether starting Vick was the right decision in Philly; i believe after seeing him play the last 2 games the skeptics are gone. Let's face it, the Eagles made a bad decision dealing McNabb to the Redskins and putting the weight of the Eagles' franchise on the shoulders of a backup with only 3 starts under his belt, Kevin Kolb. Yes, he had 3 solid starts and gave an injured Philadelphia Eagles squad some life coming out and making the offense look good, but to go out and deal your franchise quarterback after all that he has done for the franchise? I personally don't agree and i think the Eagles made a mistake. But luckily, they have been saved now that Vick has revitalized the Eagles 2010 hopes.
After watching the Eagles play in the first week of the season, i made a facebook status saying by week 3 Mike Vick would be the Eagles starter. I don't know if i actually believed it would be that soon, but regardless he is the starter by week 3 and it made me look right. Kolb sitting on the bench is a pretty expensive backup making $12 million this year with $9 million guaranteed - OUCH. It wasn't hard to tell that Kevin Kolb wasn't ready to bare the weight of the Eagles and i think its wrong to dub a quarterback a star after only 3 starts - which leads me to the Mike Vick bandwagon.
If you took the risk of getting Mike Vick on your fantasy team, which i did out of desperation as my starters were Alex Smith and Joe Flacco, you already know that Mike Vick stunned everyone putting up some big time numbers this past week vs. the Jags. Granted, it was only the Jags but for only your second true start after being a back up for a year and being in prison for 18 months before that, i was definitely impressed. I want to say for the record that i don't believe we can dub Mike Vick the Eagles savior just yet because he has only really played 8 quarters. Who knows how long he'll hold up getting hit 30 times a game, we really don't know how good of physical conditions he's really in.
I do know that he got me 33 fantasy points by putting up 3 touchdowns and 291 yards while going 17-31 not to mention he rushed for a touchdown. He gave the Eagles a sense of relief as well as momentum putting them atop the NFC East over the Dallas Cowboys and disappointing New York Giants. Oh did i forget about the Washington Redskins whom will be making their way into Philadelphia to take on the Eagles this upcoming week - Donnovan McNabb making his return to Philly. I believe he should get a solid reception but as we know, Philadelphia Eagles fans aren't known as being the classiest.
A final note on Michael Vick - when he was in Atlanta everyone knew that Mike Vick was more of a runner than he was a quarterback. His pocket passing was below average, his arm was strong, but his accuracy was lousy. He has come out looking like a completley new quarterback throwing accurate strikes out of the pocket, and oh yeah, the second you doubt or forget about his shades of Atlanta Falcons scrambling, he busts out 30-yard touchdown runs. So far i'm sold on Mike Vick and 2 years ago when he was in prison i did not believe he would ever return to the NFL. Wow was i wrong.
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